Metals and inorganic chemicals

Lead in water reports

Lead is regulated through a treatment technique and tap-sampling action-level framework. A report row does not describe every tap or identify a home's plumbing.

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EPA dataSource review:

This is a report-reading explainer. It is not a live advisory, a household result, or a personal health assessment.

Examples on this site:
3 entries from annual water reports on this site link to this explainer.
What these results show:
Annual-report data is evidence for the named report period, not live monitoring.
Does this mean a violation?:
Not necessarily. A listed result is not automatically a violation. Check the reported value, applicable limit, report period, and status together.
Check current notices:
Current instructions must come from the water provider or another appropriate official source.

Term Identity

What the term means in an annual report

Lead in drinking water is often associated with service lines, plumbing, fixtures, and corrosion control rather than only the source water.

Why it may appear

Community systems report lead-and-copper tap-sampling information so readers can see the report-period statistic and whether the report lists sites above the applicable action level.

How it may be printed

Consumer Confidence Reports may show a 90th-percentile tap-sampling result, an action level, the number of sites above that level, a sample range, and a sampling year.

Other names you may see
Lead
Common report labels
Lead; Lead and Copper; 90th percentile

Evidence

Official sources for this explainer

Use official federal, state, utility, or report sources before treating a page as final.

Regulatory Context

How to read the applicable rule language

Use this Lead context to read a report's printed fields; it does not replace the report or the current official rule.

Regulatory context

Framework

The Lead and Copper Rule uses treatment techniques, targeted tap monitoring, and action levels rather than a simple MCL. EPA's Lead and Copper Rule Improvements have a phased compliance schedule, so a report-era result must be read with the rule and sampling year that apply to that report.

Limit or program terms

  • Action level
  • MCLG
  • 90th percentile

Units and source context

Reports may use ppb or another unit printed in the report. Do not convert a row or repair an anomalous printed unit without checking the official source.

What this page does not duplicate

This page does not restate one evergreen numeric action level because federal transition dates and report years matter. Use the report's printed fields and current EPA rule pages together.

No standalone numeric limit table is rendered here. Read the source report's printed criterion and the current official source together.

Interpretation Boundaries

What a listed result does not establish

These Lead boundaries apply to every report row connected to this explainer.

Household-level boundary

A system's lead sampling summary cannot establish the result at a particular tap. Sampling location, service lines, fixtures, plumbing, and corrosion conditions can differ.

What to verify next

  1. Confirm the report's sampling year and 90th-percentile field.
  2. Check how many sampled sites the report lists above the action level.
  3. Use the provider and current EPA rule page for current instructions and rule timing.

Annual report examples

Examples of lead in water reports

Read each result with its report year, public water system, original label, units, and any printed criteria or status.

Utility report2025 report row

Lead

From Gallup Water System's 2025 report (PWSID NM3508317). Labels, values, units, criteria, and status wording are shown as printed.

Source table
Copper & Lead
Testing or report period
2023
Reported value
Amount Detected: 0.001
Reported range
Not listed in row
Unit printed in row
ppm
Criterion printed in row
Action Level: 15; MCLG: 0.0
Status printed in row
Violation: No

The row prints Year Sampled 2023, Action Level 15, MCLG 0.0, Amount Detected 0.001, Sites Above Action Level 0, and unit ppm.

Table note: The source prints the Lead unit as ppm. It is preserved without conversion or normalization.

View row in report context →Open original report
Utility report2025 report row

Lead

From Silver City Water System's 2025 report (PWSID NM3522609). Labels, values, units, criteria, and status wording are shown as printed.

Source table
Lead and Copper
Testing or report period
2023
Reported value
90th Percentile: 0.8
Reported range
Range Low-High: ND-.002
Unit printed in row
ppb
Criterion printed in row
AL: 15; MCLG: 0
Status printed in row
MEETS EPA STANDARDS: YES

The source table does not print a sites-above-action-level column. The printed 90th-percentile value and range are preserved without calculation or reconciliation.

View row in report context →Open original report
Utility report2025 report row

Lead

From Ruidoso Water System's 2025 report (PWSID NM3513114). Labels, values, units, criteria, and status wording are shown as printed.

Source table
Tap water samples were collected for lead and copper analyses from sample sites throughout the community
Testing or report period
2023
Reported value
Amount Detected (90th %ile): 4.1
Reported range
Range Low-High: ND-6.2
Unit printed in row
ppb
Criterion printed in row
AL: 15; MCLG: 0
Status printed in row
VIOLATION: No

ND is confined to the printed range; the 2023 sample year and 0/30 sites cell do not describe a current tap or service line.

View row in report context →Open original report

Continue Reading

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View How to read a water quality report